Bay Of Plenty Times FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1910. CHRISTMAS.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5593, 23 December 1910, Page 2

Bay Of Plenty Times FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1910. CHRISTMAS.

Merc and more, amid the change* and tluctuations of usage and custom, does the great festival of the Chribttian year assert its pre-eminence, la no other holiday or anniversary ar c the religious and social elements .s.« intimatoly blended ; in no other does the joy of life find.such unrestrained expression ;in none boside is there displayed so widely that kindly thought and consideration for others which, unconsciously to those by whom it is exercised, is the real root, ol the joyousness which i.s the unique characteristic of 'Christmastide, and which, independentl of outward environment, is unchanged wrether the season be celebrated under an equatorial sun or among the snows of the Arctic circle. other feast-days observed by the churches awaken their own memories and cheerful associations, but. pass almost unnoticed save, by those who made their celebration a matter of conscience ; again, there are religious commemorations of so solemn a character that exuberant gaiety would strike a discordant note ; but devout and undevout alik.: are compelled to recognise the unique character and associations o [ Christmas Oay. Tho festival has in some degree changed its character with the. centuries ; but it is gratifying to recognise that it has changed for the better, and seems to have more than kept pace with human progress. H stands as a rebuke to the pessimisr. who deplores the supposed increasing materialism of the age. and tho loss of the great ideals of the mighty post. It i.s a time when that whicii is far too much repressed i n the si r.vs and struggle of life, the kindly impulses which are too ofion hide.en k.st they should meet the vulga>gaze of the mocker and the fool— may find free expressions ; a time when what is best and brightest in life and character is permitted to appear. Our neighbour—our supposes enemy or rival it may be—turns out to he quite a different individual from the one our uncharitable imagination had painted, ami perhaps n I r-.?ally fine fellow after all. The >-ea?on is. necessarily, not to all a s.uson of joy. because the trials and vicissitudes of life know no "close season," and there are those to whom. though all around - reflects Kutwhine. it seems only to bring: "a Sorrow's crown of sorrow." To >;K-h only loving and respectful sympathy can be shown. Uiv the deeper j,r"iffs niv very sacred. If. however, ns all ixit«t admit, tho Christmas sf«son is unions, UkjI.'1.' must fc« ay"artc^uaw'

tausc, and if, as it has done, it has gathered to itself from c» rery icgion and every race, ancient and modern, impartially from Pagan, Jew, ana Christian, all that is best and brightest, truest, sweetest, and purest in holiday, social, and udigious observance, there must also t-c a sufficient cause, it does more than commemorate the greatest and fur-thest-reaching event in this planet's history—it embodies, as nearly as may be, the new spirit which thon nrst dawned on the earth. At Christ-* mas time it is a good and ume-hon-oured custom to turn away from the darker side of life and to look for a while upon the brighter, to forget as far as possible the things which discourage and worry us, and to call to mind the things which encourage and cheer us. In New Zealand 1910 has been a prosperous year ; work has been plentiful, produce price* have been high, and trade has been good. A record season has been experienced, and throughout the North has filled the horn of plenty, and prosperity \a very apparent in the Bay of Plenty. Such a condition of affairs makes for a happy and prosperous Christmas. In this beautiful portion of the great British Empire, sea and land and sky meet tvnd mingle as in a poet's diva;ii, making beauty. so'universal that it saturates our daily life. Therefore, when we keep our Christina,-;, wheth- ! >r by the blue waters of the Pacific that lap 01 r sanded shores, or in tbo sheltered valleys that lie between I the mountains and the sea, i>r high ■n the bush-clad hills which crown the Bay of Plenty and New Zealand we Can all wish one another : "\ Merry Christinas and a Happy A'ew Year \"